Electric furnace for gas reactions.



O. DIEFFENBAOH & W. MOLDENHAUER ELECTRIC FURNACE FOR GAS REACTIONS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 25, 1908.

Patented Nov. 30, 1909 flaw/Mail);

UNITED STATES PATENT orrron OTTO DIEFFENBACH AND WILHELM MOLDENHAUER, OF DARMSIADT, GERMANY.

ELECTRIC FURNACE FOR GAS REACTICNS.

. nmau Monmcxiru cu. doctor of philosophy,

lecturer at. the technical high -scliool at Darmstadt,and resid nts of Harmstadt, in the (lrand Duchy of llcsse, Germany, (the post-otlice address of ()ir'ro lhnrrnxmcn is Uhlystrasse No. 71, that of \Ynamtu Moon- RNIIAUER lucasweg No. 19) have invented new and useful Improvements in l llectrical Furnaces for Gas Reactions, of which the following is a specification.

.lt is well known that by passing a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen "through an el ctric are produced between two carbon clectrodes, combination of the said gases with the. carbon volatilized in the arc to form hydrocyan acid takes place. In practice when it is :ltltJTH ti'etl to carry on this process on a large scale, it is found that in order to obtain any large quantity of hydrocyanie acid it is necessary to pass the gases at a comparatively slow rate through the arc, since it they are passed rapidly through it, they do not become sutiiciently highly heated. In order to obtain good results therefore it is a distinct advantage to submit the gases to a preliminary heating so as to raise them to a high temperature before they enter the a "c, and this may be best effected in the following manner. lf, instead of producing the are by passing a current from a suitable direct. current or alternatingcurrent gencrater between two carbon rods, only the upper, Vertically- )laced electrode be a car- 'bon rod, while the lower one is constituted ture, and also the more deeply situated layers become heated by conductlon, and smco they themselves otter considerable resistance ture, so that when it enters the zone of the are, it will become much more rapidly aised to the required maximum of temperature than would be the case if there were no such preliminary heating. Moreover, by the em- Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed August 5',

Patented Nov, 30, 1909.

1908. Serial No. 450.200.

ployment of unformed carbon as the lower electrode, a form ot are is produced which is very well adapted to the requirements of the process.

In the case of a pair of carbon r ds the are springs principally cross a comparatively restricted area, and. moreover it fre quently changes its standpoint and thereby renders it. diflicult to make the gases pass U through the are at all. r hereas on the other hand, if the lower electrode is constituted by a stratum of su'tticiently small lumps of coke, the are then assumes a form in which, in passing from the upper to the lower electrode it spreads out conically so as to cover the Whole surface of the lower electrode, provided that this is not too widely distributed. Consequently all the gases which escape upwardly from the coke stratum are compelled to pass through some portion of ti e are, more particularly if the upper elect-rode be constituted by a carbon tube whereby an extended passage is provided for the gases, and through which'tube the gases may be conducted out of the furnace, after their passage through the are.

It is true that suggestions have already been made for the management of electrical furnaces, according to which the gases are.

supplied to the latter, but both the means employed, and the object of these apparatus ditl'er -totally from those which are dealt with according to the present invention. For instance in British Patent No. lQS-l of 1898 a resistance furnace for the production of carbid is described, in which with the object of obtaining an elevation of temperature in the furnace, air for the combustion of the carbon monoxid produced is forced in the gas entering at the periphery, and traversing the charge of coke and lime, and escaping upwardly from the layer at points whose position is neither determinate nor essential for obtaining successful results. On the other hand, according to the present invention as above pointed out, the gas is, for the purpose of submitting it to a preliminary heating, blown in at the lower region of the coke stratum, and compelled to leave the furnace exclusively byway of the heating chamber. Against the heating effect obtained by the blowing in of the gases, according to the British Patent 1984; of 1898 must be set firstly the cooling effect. which the incoming fresh gases produce on the heated coke, and secondly the considerable mama s...

absorption of heat which takes place in con sequence of the endothermic nature of the reaction produced.

No other electrical furnaces for the conduct of gas reactions have been known hitherto, and still less therefore the phenomenon of the spreading out of the are, when unformed coke is employed for the one electrode. Experiments specially carried out with both continuous and alternating currents have shown that the production of this conical shape of the arc is particularly favored if continuous current be employed in the furnace, the upper and lower electr'odes'being respectively cathode and anode. Furthermore, the tension of the current should preferably be kept low in accordance with the usual practice in electric arc furnaces. The experiments showed that in spite of the lateral spreading of the coke surface the heating efiectexercised by the electric are on the electrodes under these conditions is muchgreater in the case of the lower electrode, thanin that of the upper, and that therefore the carbon vapor necessary for the formation of hydrocyanic acid is almost exclusively produced at the expense of the lower unformed electrode, while the upper or formed electrode is but slightly attacked. If, on. the other hand reversed poles are (111- ployed (that is to say with the anode at the toplthen a volatilization of carbon ensues which so far exceeds the quantity to be ex pected (compared with that for instance of the arc-l amp) that the process almost entirely loses its commercial value. Furthermore ithas been found advantageous instead of employing as the lower electrode a coke-stratum having a flat surface, to use it in the form of a bowl so that it constitutes a more or less capacious heating chamber which furthermore closes directly on to a chamber 'inclosing the upper electrode, such chamber being formed of carbon or of other suitable refractory material. It is necessary that the entire heat of the are be concentrated within this heating chamber so that both a maximum temperature and large quantities of volatilized carbon are already present in the chamber for the reception of the inflowing gases. This heated chamber, which serves also as electrode, can easily be renewed constantly' and as fast as it suffers destruction by the volatilization of the carbon by feeding in fresh coke laterally and preferably from the outer side of the chamber surrounding the upper electrode, in such manner that the lumps of coke sliding down the natural angle of the recess fill up the space which has been vacated by the consumed coke. Here again the character of the pres- K ng of a charge of fragmentary carbon and ent apparatus is clearly distinguished from the electric arc furnace of 'Ugrinow, German patent No. 118,051 which nevertheless presents a superficial resemblance to the present apparatus. In the case of the furnace referred to, the metallic heating chamber employed is intended to dissipate the heat produced, by conduction'and radiation outwardly. The gas supply is constant and 7 is not intended, in accordance with its nature, to take part in the reactions; whereas with the present invention the heat produced is intended to be concentrated on the heating chamber (after the manner of the generality of electrochemical furnaces) and to be given up exclusively to the current of gas, with the object of producing a reaction. The carbon layer in the furnace for heating and boiling described in the German patent '80 specification No. 118,051 serves m rely for the protection of the metal and is intended to be as far as possible conserved and economized; whereas in the present case, the carbon serves for consumption in the gas reac- 35 (ion and its recharging necessitates therefore a. specially constructed shaft furnace.

The furnace here described is suitable for use in the preparation of hydrocyanic acid in that case also, if previously produced hydrocarbons of suitable composltion are used together with nitrogen as raw material. Similarly it may be used for other processes in which gas reactions are to be produced by the heat of the electric arc, in so far at least as the presence of gaseous carbon is necessary for, or at last not disadvantagcgnis, to such processes, as for instance in the case of the production of acetylene from its elements, of cyanogen and of other endothermic compounds.

The annexed drawing represents in diagramrnatic section the furnace herei described.

The furnace, constituted of tire-resisting material (.5 and of a metallic mantle f carries upwardly the tubular electrode 0 and underneath the tubular electrode 5 The coke a is fed in as required by means of a screw conveyer b. The gas enters at m and escapes at a.

la is the ring of fire-resistingmaterial around whose outer wall the coke slides downwardly.

Now what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following:

1. An electric arc furnace for producing gas-reacti0ns, including two electrodes in said furnace, one of said electrodes being composed of a charge of fragmentary car- 'bon, and means for supplying gas to the are through said carbon, substantially as described.

2. An electric arc furnace for producing gas-reactions, including two electrodes in .5 said furnace, one of said electrodes consistthe other electrode consisting of a tube substantially as described.

\3. An electric arc furnace for producing 1 come gas-reactions, including can upper and a lower electrode in said furnace, said lower l irode being composed of JlH'Z' gQ o inentary carbon, and means for supply ing gas to the are. tlirou h said carbon sub- 'iiully as described" (3. fin elect ie are furnace for producing gus-reuclions, including on upper end a.

lower electrode in said furnace, said lower electrode being composed of charge of fragmentary carbon and having on upper exposed surface and means for msiuluini a bowlshaped depression in. the said upper exposed surface of said lower electrode sub stzmtially as described.

7. An electric arc'furnace for producin gasueactions, including an upper 1 lower electrode in said ifuri'zzice, said electrode being composed s oinrg;

irugnlenlziry curb :1 mantle of rcl'rz -lory material surromidmg suld upper elect Nile and means curb:

s1 lo said furnace, substantially as deed.

S. An eleclric are furnace for producing gusresctions including an upper and :1 lower electrode in said furnace, said lower oleclrode being composed of a charge of frngiueulury carbon; a mmule of refruc material surroundn said upper electrode and :1. wwconvcyer for supplying fresh emerges oi carbon to sand iurnoce subslmi- L'iully c Jo Hippo us for producing gasieactions by submitting 53am lio the action of ie electric are, con prising an electric furnace, up and lower clccl'rodcs in said Turn said lower electrode consisting of u (fllfll' c c 'ugmeulury carbon; 21ml :2 source of 11- tinuous currenl (lQL-LLlC sumvly suid soi "cc lls posiliro ml ueguthe i-ierminuls pol-liv ly couuec l to suid lower sud 1; :r olecliwdes i-:ul smntially us oeseribcd. 3 that We claim lllo hircgosng is our o m or have slgned our names {a o witnesses, this ole/col! 'm. A. iFl ENBAC/l l presence (4:13 of 

